UFC 159 will go down as one of the most bizarre pay-per-views in mixed martial arts history.

A total of three bouts featured premature endings this past Saturday, as Gian Villante and Alan Belcher were on the receiving end of accidental eye pokes — against Ovince St. Preux and Michael Bisping, respectively — while Yancy Medeiros’ thumb was mangled in his bout with Rustam Khabilov. The main event even saw UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones break his toe in gruesome fashion during his first-round stomping of Chael Sonnen.

And let’s not forget the demonic voice that somehow found its way onto the broadcast (tinyurl.com/ufc159-voice).

Though both Jones and Medeiros suffered freak injuries, Belcher and Villante were the victims of an unfortunate trend in MMA. Accidental eye pokes occur too often in the sport — and the current glove design is to blame.

By allowing all four fingers to move freely, the risk of unintentional eye gouges will always be present.

Though many, including UFC commentator Joe Rogan, have lobbied for a change, UFC president Dana White said eye pokes will always be a part of the sport.

“That’s the glove that’s approved all over the country by all the athletic commissions,” White said at the UFC 159 post-fight press conference. “Alright, let’s say you had gloves with fingers on them, you could still poke people in the eye with them.

“With a boxing glove, they used to have problems back in the ‘70s, and maybe early ‘80s, with guys getting thumbed in the eye. Because those old Everlast gloves used to look like a lobster claw and guys used to get thumbed all the time. Then they made the attached thumb to it. I just don’t know how you would do it in MMA with the grappling.”

It’s certainly not White’s responsibility to invent a new glove.

Hell, even if he actively engaged athletic commissions on the issue, there’s no guarantee they would listen to him. But to simply act as if it’s impossible to improve the current design is downright ludicrous. He’s correct that eye pokes may never be completely eliminated, but surely someone can conceive a glove that reduces the risk to fighters.

Oh, wait a minute, someone already did.

White — and the athletic commissions — need not look any further than Zuffa’s own video library. Just pop in an old PRIDE Fighting Championships card.

The now-defunct Japanese MMA organization utilized a glove that connected all four fingers and had a loose thumb. Fighters’ finger tips were still exposed, but the glove made it more difficult to accidentally jab an opponent in the eye.

Though eye pokes did occur in PRIDE, they were quite rare. Off the top of my head, I can only think of three bouts during the promotion’s 10-year lifespan that ended as a result of the foul.

The first came at PRIDE 16 in 2001, which saw Gilbert Yvel disqualified for blatantly gouging Don Frye. At Final Conflict 2003, Gary Goodridge picked up an 18-second TKO win over Dan Bobish. Bobish suffered an eye injury during the bout, but it’s difficult to tell whether the damage was the result of a punch or an eye poke.

The third incident came at Final Conflict 2006, where Josh Barnett was forced to submit after an unintentional poke from Mirko Filipovic in the final of the open-weight grand prix. Barnett later stated he was hit with an accidental thumb from Filipovic while attempting to set up a leg lock.

To put this in context, the UFC has seen three bouts stopped due to eye pokes in the last nine months.

Also, fighters in PRIDE hardly seemed hindered by the gloves, as there was no shortage of dramatic submissions or knockouts.

Even if athletic commissions find PRIDE’s glove a less-than-ideal solution, they should at least consider a new design that connects the four fingers — and potentially covers off the tips, as well.

Realistically, the only serious drawbacks will be that of comfort.

By introducing a different glove into today’s MMA scene, fighters will be forced to go through a period of adjustment. Some will no doubt find grappling awkward at first and will need to refine certain techniques. But that’s hardly a huge negative considering the increase in fighter safety.

Besides, if MMA represents anything, it’s evolution. Over the years traditional techniques have been either adapted or completely scrapped in order to accommodate the inclusion of different fighting styles.

So is it too much to ask that the MMA gloves get revised?

I think not.

Considering how fast the sport has evolved over the years, it won’t be long before we look back and laugh at how antiquated the current design is.

UFC needs to look at glove issue after slew of eye pokes

UFC 159 will go down as one of the most bizarre pay-per-views in mixed martial arts history.

A total of three bouts featured premature endings this past Saturday, as Gian Villante and Alan Belcher were on the receiving end of accidental eye pokes — against Ovince St. Preux and Michael Bisping, respectively — while Yancy Medeiros’ thumb was mangled in his bout with Rustam Khabilov. The main event even saw UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones break his toe in gruesome fashion during his first-round stomping of Chael Sonnen.

Though both Jones and Medeiros suffered freak injuries, Belcher and Villante were the victims of an unfortunate trend in MMA. Accidental eye pokes occur too often in the sport — and the current glove design is to blame.